The Oceanside City Council has overturned the Planning Commission’s approval of the Eddie Jones warehouse project proposed for a 32-acre industrial site next to the city airport.
Nearly 40 people spoke on the issue at the council’s meeting Wednesday, where the vote was 3-2 in favor of an appeal filed by neighborhood residents. Council Rick Robinson and Peter Weiss voted no.
Many of the speakers had been fighting the San Luis Rey Valley project for three years. A majority of the council agreed with their concerns about the noise, air pollution and truck traffic that the facility could bring to local streets and the nearby state Route 76.
Commercial real estate developer RPG initially proposed a single 566,905-square-foot building with 114 truck bays. After multiple meetings with residents and city officials, the company downsized its proposal to four smaller buildings with a total of 497,822 square feet and 34 truck bays.
“The project did get better over time,” said Councilmember Eric Joyce.
However, he said, the modified proposal remains much larger than the previous operation on the site, and, “We need to find a proper, balanced use” that would be better there.
“The reality is this is severely impacting the community,” said Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa. “I really don’t think there is any benefit in moving forward with this project.”
Robinson said the additional noise and pollution would be minimal compared to what’s already in the area and nearby on Route 76, and that the appeal was a “not-in-my-backyard” issue.
“You’re OK with it somewhere else … in the middle of the city, or in Fallbrook or Temecula,” he said. “You just don’t want it in your backyard.”
Hundreds of homes have been built north of the airport and the industrial zone since the Deutsch facilities were built. All of those residences have only two access roads from Route 76 — Benet and Foussat — that they would share with the warehouse to be built on Eddie Jones Way.
The property formerly was occupied by a Deutsch Company plant built in 1966 to manufacture electronic parts for the defense industry. The company moved out after more than 50 years there, and the building was demolished in 2022.
Gretchen Gary, who spoke for the appellants, called the proposed buildings “a massive industrial complex.”
“It’s hard for most people to wrap their head around how big this building is,” Gary said, adding that the facility would be three times the size of the previous structure on the site and it’s just 800 feet from the nearest homes.
“We aren’t anti-development,” she said. “We just don’t want trucks and forklifts in our backyards.”
Arlene Tendick, representing the developer ADT, said the appeal lacks any legal merit.
“We’ve really checked all the boxes with this,” Tendick said.
The project will create 1,425 temporary construction jobs and 510 permanent jobs in a range of income, skill and experience levels, she said.
“Cities can’t thrive with just tourism and coffee shops,” Tendick said. “We need jobs in the industrial areas, where the general plan says jobs should go.”
Erik Bruvold, CEO of the San Diego North Economic Development Council, said Oceanside needs the jobs. The city has one of the lowest jobs-to-homes rates in the region, and more than 80 percent of Oceanside’s working residents commute to jobs outside the city.
“The City Council always talks about quality jobs,” Bruvold said. “This is the type of project they want. It aligns with the economic goals that the council has talked about for a good 20 years.”
Two other large developments, both with hundreds of homes, are expected to boost traffic on Route 76 in the next few years.
One is the Ocean Kamp resort and residential project approved by the city in 2022 for a former drive-in theater site just off the 76 near the airport. That development will have an artificial surfing lagoon, restaurants, shops, a 300-room hotel and up to 700 homes.
Farther east is the North River Farms project, already under construction on North River Road, with just under 400 homes.
